3 Bento #246 - Quesadilla, Pico de Gallo & Lime-Cilantro Crema

Sunday evening I made my delicious Baja shrimp tacos (and if you haven't tried them yet, you don't know what you are missing!)  For E's lunch I packed a small cheese quesadilla on a toasted corn tortilla, along with a small handful of chips.  Yummy and also vegetarian, and gluten-free.

Accompanying it is lime-cilantro crema, fresh cilantro and homemade pico de gallo, (roma tomatoes, white onion, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, lime juice and salt.)  Dessert is raspberries!

All packed up.

Bento #246 - Corn cheese quesadilla and chips, raspberries, cilantro, lime-cilantro crema and pico de gallo.  Snack - Clementine and yogurt stars.

9 Carrot Quesadillas

Today I made E a really, really simple lunch, just this carrot quesadilla. Being the room mom, I happen to know that there will be some very yummy food available in her class for Family Traditions Day today, so I wanted her to have something pretty healthy and simple.  I steamed some organic baby carrots for 12 minutes, pureed them, then mixed in some shredded cheese and spread it onto a tortilla shell.

I topped it with some diced chicken and a little more cheese and grilled it until melty.

With this one quesadilla she gets her carb, fat, protein and veg (and some other good stuff too.)  And hopefully she'll be able to eat it without her teacher having to say "less talking, more eating", words which she apparently gets admonished with quite often these days.

4 Bento #131 - Flower Power Quesadillas

These were a big hit, mainly because of the shape, though they are very yummy too.  I used the last of the roast chicken, shredded it, and then combined it with cheese and fresh spinach into these nice flower-shaped tortillas.  Just used a big cookie cutter.  Threw them into my panini press for a couple minutes, and voila!  Some very cute flowers filled with goodness.

Coming this weekend:  A decadent new bread pudding recipe made with apples...and Kahlua!

Bento #131 - Chicken & cheese flower quesadillas, fresh strawberries, and salsa sour cream dip.

1 Bento #129 - Shrimp Quesadilla

Two things today.

First things first, we ate out for dinner, and E's extra baby shrimp made it into this quesadilla for lunch, along with a side of salsa sour cream (just mix the two.)

Secondly, I discovered a trick for collecting and safely washing all your food picks and small bento items!  Up until now, I'd have a cup next to the sink and drop the picks in, and when I got around to it, I'd wash them all carefully by hand (trying not to let them slip down the disposal), then lay them all out on towels to dry.  No longer!  I happened to have my collapsible stainless steamer basket out, and realized that it might be the perfect washing basket for those items.  Now I keep the basket next to the sink, drop items in, and then I close it up and throw it in the dishwasher (top rack) with everything else.  I feel so inventive!

Bento #129 - Shrimp and cheese quesadilla, salsa sour cream, dried apricots, celery sticks and organic peanut butter.

1 Bento #107 - Black Bean Quesadillas

Here we have two small black bean quesadillas which I made for dinner last night, and E ended up loving (she actually thought it was chicken.) It's made with diced MorningStar Farms Chipotle Black Bean Burger patties and shredded cheese (plain Mexican blend for E, pepper jack for the adults)...and that's pretty much it.  A few minutes in the panini press, and they were really, really good with some sour cream and salsa.  E likes to mix her salsa in her sour cream, so I've done this for her in this bento today.

Bento #107 - Chipotle black bean & cheese quesadillas, tangelo segments, carrots and salsa sour cream.

4 The Waffle Quesadilla

It sounds a little Frankenstein, right?  This post is purely to show that you don't need a million specific uni-taskers in the kitchen.  I don't have a panini press.  Would I like one?  Yes, if I had the room for one next to my giant KitchenAid Mixer!  But I really don't, and I also don't need to spend $150 on one either.  There are lots of ways make quesadillas, as we are all aware, but why not try something different?  All my parenting magazines say that switching things up from time to time catches kids' interest, and it is no different for food.  The quesadilla is a great vehicle for trying out new, healthy fillings, so why not make it novel to amp up the interest and fun factor?  Let me tell you, when I suggested quesadillas to E, she turned her nose up.  But, when I asked her to help me make them AND I told her it would be a WAFFLE quesadilla, she was all for it!

First, decide on your filling.  E really wanted chicken nuggets.  I was okay with that, but wanted to get some green veggies in.  I used the Bean So Green mix from TJ's of broccoli, green beans, peas and romanesco, microwaved it for about 30 seconds and combined it with the cooked chicken.

I portioned out the shredded cheese so that E could easily help spread the cheese over the tortilla shell.

Next, I added the meat/veggies and had E top it all with more cheese, and folded it over into that classic quesadilla shape, and cut the whole thing in half.

Meanwhile, I had my waffle iron heating up on high.  BTW, I have a Villaware V2002 Uno Belgian waffler which I LOVE. 

Carefully place a quesadilla half on the griddle (which has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil.)

Close the top and press down hard so the plates meet - don't be scared.  Some of the filling will ooze out, but it will all come off, and it's really yummy and crunchy!

Obviously, the plating isn't fancy (we had a very excited and hungry kid on hand!) but it shows the final result. A healthy, fun lunch, a happy kid who ate it and a satisfied mom, what more could one ask for?

So, what are your neat kitchen tricks?

0 Bento #73 - Italian Quesadilla

So, this is more of a bento plate.  I bought some nice smoked Boar's Head ham yesterday, and assembled that on a whole wheat tortilla shell with some shredded cheese, and lightly grilled it with some butter.  I served it with some very basil-y, garlicky bruschetta (fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil) and some sour cream on the side.  This was gobbled right down, tomatoes and all.

Bento #73 - "Italian" quesadilla on whole wheat, carrot sticks, sour cream and bruschetta, and red seedless grapes.

We are also going to be concentrating on the proper usage of knife and fork.  This is something that was insisted upon in my house growing up, and I think that everyone - young and old - should know how to properly use those utensils.  We have some practice to do, but she was so proud to do it by herself.

By the way, I got a new oak top kitchen island/breakfast bar last weekend (hallelujah!)  Now I just need my new lighting installed above it, and then I'll be all set.  Woo hoo!

0 Bento #45 - Quesadilla, Veggies & Banana Bread

Yesterday we visited our favorite local taqueria after church.  E didn't eat her chicken and cheese quesadilla, so I packed it for her in today's bento.  Also, I picked up some new silicone cups - isn't it cute?  It's a fluted square, great size and shape.

Bento #45 - Chicken & cheese quesadilla, lime wedge, celery sticks, grape tomatoes, slice of homemade banana bread and fresh strawberries.

0 Bento #9 - Turkey Quesadilla

Bento #9 - Turkey & cheese quesadilla, asparagus & dipping sauce.

This was tonight's dinner. She declared that she doesn't eat meat, or asparagus. I declared that she does eat both, especially if she wants dessert. Ahh, mommyhood!